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Bahamian Pirate is the one who sprung to my mind. Won the Nunthorpe at 9yo.
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Being that horses in the sprint and staying divisions stay in training for much longer the first horses that came to mind were those warrior 10 yr olds Persian Punch (Goodwood & Jockey Club Cups) & Further Flight (Doncaster Cup) but then I realised that all those races were G2s.
Outside of the UK both Kasbah Bliss (Prix Du Cadran) & John Henry (Arlington Million) were 9 yr olds when they won.
Yavana’s Pace won the Credit Suisse Private Banking Pokal (Group 1) at Cologne for Mark Johnston in 2002 aged 10.
For clarity, in 2012 the Credit Suisse Private Banking Pokal was moved from Cologne to Munich and renamed the Grosser Preis von Bayern.
Also Alcazar won the French St Leger aged 10 in 2005. So joint oldest Group 1 winner and oldest Classic winner I believe.
I never knew the Prix Royal Oak was considered the French Leger / a Classic.
Learn sumat new every day!
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Much like the Irish version, now it is open to older horses I would imagine there is some debate about whether it’s really a Classic now. But it is traditionally the “French St Leger” anyway!
Personally I would argue the merits of it being labelled a Classic as that term is strictly designed for the 3 yr old generation and as such the year it was opened up to older horse should have been the moment it lost Classic status.
That being said the responses to this thread clearly shows that given the right horse, age is no barrier to winning at the very top flight.
Extending this theme, has a horse ever won any Group race aged over 10? Honourable mentions for Caracciola who won a Listed race at 12, and Take Cover who won one at 11.
Thanks to everyone for replies.
And I’d like to find out what Marlingford asked too :)Being old fashioned I don’t think geldings should be allowed to run in Pattern races (which are meant to be about identifying elite horses, colts, fillies and mares to breed from).
I would be interested to know the oldest entire and/or mare to win a Group 1.
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It's the "Millwall FC" of Point broadcasts: "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care"Personally I think Pattern races should just be about identifying the best horses, and have no issue with them being open to geldings. Even if the gelding can’t be bred from there’s a good chance their sire and dam will still be around.
Interesting questions Ian; I expect the lure of the breeding shed means that these ages are considerably lower. Oldest I can think of are My Best Valentine (entire, won a Group 1 aged 8) and Winx (mare, won a Group 1 aged 7 using southern hemisphere ages). Far from certain they are the oldest though.
My Best Valentine certainly had an interesting career as he won the Prix de L’Abbaye in 1998 on his 73rd and final start. He even had a couple of runs over hurdles earlier on.
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